TSA aims to install armed guards at airport security checkpoints

The US Transportation Security Administration has asked for armed law enforcement officers to guard airport security checkpoints at busy times, a proposal that comes months after a shooter opened fire at a crowded California airport checkpoint.

The TSA released a 25-page report to Congress on Wednesday,
making 14 recommendations on how to best prepare for and respond
to an emergency, such as when a gunman killed a TSA officer and
injured three others at Los Angeles International Airport in
November.

The report, first obtained by the Associated Press, requests that armed police
officers supervise passengers waiting at security lines and
ticket counters at busy travel times. Currently, TSA officers do
not carry firearms and rely on local authorities to make arrests
if a traveler is caught trying to smuggle weapons or drugs, for
example. Police officers are already present in airports, a small
number patrol gates where fliers are waiting to board their
planes.

TSA Administrator John Pistole told the Los Angeles Times the suggestions are a
“measured response” to the November 1 attack. Since
then, more TSA officers have reported that they fear for their
safety at work.

“The bottom line of all this is…that we are doing everything
we can to provide for the best possible safety and
security,” he said.

Other recommendations include mandatory training for all TSA
officers on how to respond to a shooter situation, bi-annual
evacuation drills, the installation of panic buttons at airports
currently without the alarm system, and more security cameras,
among others.

The report specifically notes that local police officers, not TSA
officers, should be the ones making the armed security details.
Approximately 323 airports receive a federal stipend in exchange
for paying the police officers assigned there, and their decision
on whether to introduce the suggestions will likely depend on
local priorities.

Texas Police Chief Yousry Zakhary, president of the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, was consulted on the report and
told USA Today that, ideally, local and federal
agencies would be able to balance training and finances.

“I think in a perfect world if we had all the money and
resources that would be great, but unfortunately these are going
to have to be done on a calculated risk based on peak times and
funding that is available,” he said. “I don’t think
there’s an agency that can afford to put police at every
checkpoint. You might see roving patrols.”

In part because of the budgetary concerns, the sources who spoke
to the AP said the report likely boosts the TSA union’s
longstanding request for teams of armed TSA officers. The
National president of the American Federation of Government
Employees, J. David Cox, said such a measure would help
municipalities meet federal guidelines that are often neglected.

“The current patchwork of local law enforcement agencies
across the country inevitability leaves gaps in security, as we
saw at LAX,” he said. “Only an armed law enforcement
unit within TSA can ensure the constant and consistent presence
of sufficient law enforcement resources needed in the immediate
area of the checkpoints and other key locations in order to
prevent another tragedy like the one that occurred at LAX.”

The TSA does have 37 Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response
(VIPR) teams. The heavily-armed teams have mostly inspected
transportation hubs (other than airports), but since the November
shooting 50-percent of the VIPR teams have patrolled airports.

Paul Ciancia, the alleged LAX gunman, previously pleaded not
guilty to murder and a number of other federal charges related to
the shooting last year. Gerardo Hernandez, a 39-year-old father
of two, was the first NSA officer to be killed in the line of
duty that day. US Attorney General Eric Holder is currently
weighing whether to seek the death penalty for the 24-year-old.